Ichigo has never really been able to forget his mom. It was all his fault, really. She shouldn't have died. Not her. It's all his fault that he can't see her smile anymore.
It was never meant to be like this. As young Ichigo hugged his mom tightly, trying to shelter her against the freezing cold rain pelting against their bodies, he tried to wake her up. "Mommy, it's cold. Please wake up! You must feel very cold too, right? Let's go home. Daddy is waiting for us! Wake up, please! Mommy! Mommy!"
Actually, Ichigo knows. Deep down inside, he knew his mommy wasn't going to wake up. But perhaps if he tried a little harder, mommy might hear him and wake up. He shook his mom with as much strength as he could muster and shouted with all his might into her ear, calling out to her. If only mommy will open her eyes and smile. For her smile, Ichigo was willing to do anything. Anything at all.
Bitter tears mixed with the rain as it fell onto the lifeless face of Ichigo's mother.
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'Ichigo's crying in his sleep again.' Rukia thought as she listened through the closet door.
Every night, he'd have the same dream. Usually he hides all his emotions under a mask of nonchalance and acts all tough, but the dream he has every night haunts him and tears him up, breaking his mask apart. She had never seen Ichigo's face contorted in so much pain and sorrow, and Rukia feels quite helpless seeing his tortured expression. Ichigo hides everything in his heart and locks it up, and it was near impossible to broach the topic about his mother without getting an irritable glare and being told to shut up.
He tries so hard to lock everything away inside his heart and hide his sorrow from the others, that even in his sleep he would scrunch himself into a ball in an attempt to suppress his emotions.
Rukia really didn't know what to do, other than to hug him tightly when he has that horrible dream, and sing soothing lullabys until he returns to a peaceful state of mind in his sleep while holding her hand. She doesn't really mind sitting beside him the whole night holding his hand. She'd do anything to stop Ichigo's pain and see his smile of bliss.
The only problem is how to extract her hand from Ichigo's grip in the mornings before he wakes up and get back in her closet.
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:D First chapter of my first story up! Review please!
